Southwick, MA (June 30, 2018) – The GEICO Honda team headed to the brutally rough Southwick National facing even tougher conditions than normal thanks to high temperatures and humidity throughout the race weekend. While RJ Hampshire was hurting physically after a big crash last weekend, he mixed his old sand skills with some old-fashioned grit to grab fourth overall for the day, and a moto podium. Chase Sexton and Cameron McAdoo showed good speed also, as the team put bikes up front in both motos. Sexton took eighth overall and McAdoo was 11th.
Hampshire didn’t ride all week while trying to recover from his crash late in the second moto last Saturday at Muddy Creek. On Saturday morning, he wasn’t even sure he could race. The Florida native knows how to ride sand, though.
“Really tough week on my body,” said Hampshire. “First practice we were decent and then second practice I couldn’t even hold on to the handlebars. I think I was outside the top 20! First moto I got a decent start and was able to stay with the front pack for a few laps and then went down. Never really got going again and ended up seventh. Our plan going into that second moto was to just get a good start and not worry about going fast but just clicking off laps. I ended up holeshotting but got passed right away. By no means was I close to going the fastest but I was just clicking them off like we had planned. Third in the second moto for a fourth overall is a pretty big step considering my week. The team and I will continue to make progress.”
Sexton had a great race going but crashes at the wrong times hampered his results. He was running with the podium group in moto one before he crashed, and a first-turn crash in moto two didn’t help, either. His 5-14 scores gave him eighth overall.
“Southwick, I had a pretty good day going with qualifying fourth out of practice and then getting a fifth in the first moto even with having a tip over mid moto,” said Sexton. “Second moto had a really good start but connected with a few riders in the first turn which put me on the ground. The rest of the moto I had some more falls and it was just an overall rough moto for me. It’s too bad because I felt pretty good riding. I’m really looking forward to these last six nationals and I’m ready to put two solid motos together this next weekend at RedBud! It’s time to be a podium contender every weekend!”
McAdoo just missed the top 10 with 9-13 scores and 11th overall. He was involved in the same first turn
crash that collected Sexton in moto two.
“Southwick had some ups and downs and we had to fight hard all day,” he said. “Ended up ninth in moto 1, but moto two was tough. I ran into a down bike on the start and crashed. I put my head down and made a lot of passes on the first lap, and I was happy about that, but I ended up sliding out in a corner and was back to 40th again! I then worked my way to 13th. The 9-13 for 11th overall isn’t exactly what I wanted, but I can see the positives. We’ll put in some more work this week and be ready for RedBud.”
Southwick marked the first national this season without Jeremy Martin under the tent. The former series points leader is out for the season after back surgery following last weekend’s big crash in moto two.
Next up for the team is the RedBud National in Michigan this Saturday.
GEICO Honda Results
Kubota Southwick National
4. RJ Hampshire
8. Chase Sexton
11. Cameron McAdoo
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